1 week. 7 days. And it felt like a lifetime to me. A week of frantic phone calls asking about her. A week of dirty looks from her friends. A week of guilt and pain. But worst of all a week of waiting and not knowing.
I shouldn't have left in the first place, I'm more mature than that! I shouldn't have let my feelings get the better of me. I should've let her explain. I shouldn't have gone off with that other girl. I should've been able to never let this happen at all!
I sat in the constantly moving hallway. Tapping my feet with nerves against the squeaking floor. I didn't dare look up at anyone passing, one more look would have sent me over the edge. There was a hand on my shoulder and I flinched at the touch. The fingers were cold against my collarbone, even through my shirt and I felt the shaking that I myself hadn't stopped doing since the start. She spoke, her voice understanding and soft. Georgia was good at keeping me calm, I put so much trust in her it was hard not to be relaxed in her presence.
"You should see her" it was a sentence I dreaded hearing still.
"Do- does she remem... ber?"
I didn't look up but I knee that meant yes.
"She's not angry, just worried about you"
Why? I wasn't the one hit by a car. The though of her caring for me more than herself, especially in the state she was now, made me feel more guilt.
I put both hands on the plastic chair beneath me that I had glued to for hours a day all that week and pushed myself off it, swaying clumsily as I struggled to balance myself in a dizzy state.
"Shall I come with you?"
"No. I need to do this myself"
I took a deep breath and raised my head, the blood finally rushing back down my body. I placed one heavy foot in front of the other and stepped into her room. My heart stopped, she was half covered by a book. One I'd seen her read a couple summers ago and good memories of water fights and beach days under the sun returned. I shook my head focusing on the now instead of the past.
Purple bruises peeked from above the book and my eyes stung as her terrified face, illuminated by headlights flashed into my head once again like it did every time I closed my eyes. I cleared my throat and she looked towards cowardly me hiding in the corner of the room, too scared to approach the girl I loved.
She smiled a broken smile, one that I had smashed to pieces. I couldn't tell if she wanted to see me, but her frail arms clawed at the bedside as she attempted to prop herself up normally. I winced watching her struggle but at the same time couldn't bring myself to move and help. The last thing I wanted to do was cause more trouble.
"Chandler" she croaked, her voice scratched around in my head.
Seeing her so beaten and hurt, broke me badly. She attempted my name again but all I did was break down. I found my balance and fell into the nearest chair. Tears streaming. All I could do was repeat the same words.
"What have I done?"
Over and over and over.
"Stop chan" she whined spluttering back to her normal tone. "please."
I looked up. I was scaring her.
"Sorry... Really I am"
I was a wreck. But even through her pain beauty still shone when she smiled at my face.
"Don't be. I wanted to tell you something... That night"
"I figured."
"Chandl-"
"- I made a mistake y/n, I should never have gone off. It was immature and a dick move"
"I lied, that night chan"
"What?"
"I did love you, and I still do chandler I still do!"
Tears began falling down her cheeks in desperation. I couldn't help but smile.
Y/n's hair fell last her face as she wiped away tears. She raised her head again and looked me straight in the eyes from across the room.
"I promise I do..."
